Oregon Marijuana Shops Anticipate Eclipse Sales Spike

People are loading up on more than special glasses and camera equipment for the upcoming total eclipse Aug. 21.

A budtender at the Little Amsterdam marijuana store in Portland, say sales are doubling in advance of the Aug. 21 total eclipse.

Kristian Foden-Vencil/OPB

Many marijuana shops in Oregon are reporting a spike in sales.

“Tourism already to Oregon, plus an eclipse, is doubling up. And that means customers are doubling in our doors,” said Mike Drevecky, a budtender at the Little Amsterdam Wellness Center in Portland. “I mean we’re swamped this morning alone.”

Authorities warn that driving under the influence of marijuana is illegal.

Staff at Plantae Health Care dispensary in Madras say they haven’t seen an increase in sales ahead of the eclipse, but they’re preparing for one next week.

Further east in John Day, budtender Danny Kidd at the Rocky Mountain Dispensary, says they’ve been turning away recreational customers. “It’s a bummer,” he said.

Kidd says the dispensary is medical only, so it can’t sell recreational cannabis.

Approximately 1 million people are expected to travel to Oregon to watch the eclipse, the only state in the path of totality with legal recreational marijuana.